Men accused of being asked to attack property linked to Britain’s Starmer

Three Men Face Trial for Arson Attacks on UK Prime Minister’s Properties

British prosecutors have revealed that three men were allegedly offered payment by an anonymous Russian-speaking contact to set fire to properties linked to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year.

In court proceedings on Wednesday, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told judges that Ukrainian nationals Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Petro Pochynok, 35, along with Romanian citizen Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, were involved in setting multiple blazes in London between May 8 and 12, 2023.

While all three face conspiracy to commit arson charges, Lavrynovych was specifically identified by police as the central figure behind all three incidents. He faces additional serious charges of damaging properties by fire with intent to endanger life or being reckless about whether lives were endangered. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“Three fires in the same area within five days would be pretty unusual. However, three fires all involving property linked to the same person were beyond a coincidence,” Atkinson told the court.

The prosecutor detailed a pattern of deliberate targeting, explaining that a Toyota car was set ablaze in the early hours of May 8 in north London’s Kentish Town area, followed by house fires on May 11 and 12. The property fires were reportedly started with similar materials and tactics.

“They were set in the dead of night, when the occupants of the addresses would inevitably have been asleep,” Atkinson said, arguing this timing demonstrated an intent to endanger lives.

The court heard that all three targets had connections to the Prime Minister. The car had previously belonged to Starmer, while the first house on Ellington Road was managed by a company where the Prime Minister had once served as a director and shareholder. The second property on Countess Road, still owned by Starmer, was occupied by his sister-in-law at the time of the attack.

According to Atkinson, the arsons were “planned and directed, with those involved promised payment for their participation.” The prosecution claims Lavrynovych was offered payment to commit the acts through the messaging app Telegram by a contact using the name “El Money.”

The attacks had potentially lethal consequences. During the May 11 incident, an occupant of the top-floor apartment was awakened by smoke around 3 a.m. The resident opened their front door to find communal hallways filled with smoke, struggled to breathe, and had to retreat to the roof for safety.

Just a day later, the Prime Minister’s sister-in-law was alerted to danger by loud bangs and discovered smoke billowing through her front door around 1 a.m. She also experienced breathing difficulties, and her 9-year-old daughter was “very frightened,” according to testimony.

The prosecution recovered over 320 messages between Lavrynovych and “El Money” dating back to September 2023. However, Atkinson instructed the jury not to concern themselves with the true identity of “El Money” or their motivations for recruiting people to carry out the attacks.

Notably, Atkinson told jurors they don’t need to determine whether the defendants knew they were targeting properties connected to the Prime Minister, saying “it does not matter whether they knew that the property they were targeting was connected to the prime minister or whether that formed part of their motivation.”

The court was not informed about how much money was allegedly offered to the defendants or whether anyone sustained injuries during the house fires.

The case has raised concerns about political targeting and foreign interference, though prosecutors have focused narrowly on the specific arson charges rather than potential broader motivations behind the attacks.